Crimea parliament votes in favor of joining Russia

Tensions escalate between Ukraine and its autonomous region of Crimea as the southern peninsula steps up efforts to join Russia. Crimea's parliament has voted in favor of moving eastwards and its government has scheduled a referendum within 10 days on the decision.

The vice premier of Crimea says all state property would be nationalized, the Russian rouble could be adopted and Ukrainian troops would be treated as occupiers and be forced to surrender or leave. In response, the new Ukrainian government has declared the planned referendum illegal and opened a criminal investigation against Crimean Prime Minister Sergei Askyonov. Meanwhile, following the talks between the Russian foreign minister and his US counterpart in Rome, Sergei Lavrov said there's currently no agreement between Moscow and Washington on the situation in Ukraine.